As I've pointed out before (see here and here), I love weird maps. The one above was created by a designer named Ben Fry, and shows all the streets in the lower 48 states (click image to enlarge). That's right-- according to Ben's website, this map features 26 million individual road segments. Ben also notes that "[n]o other features (such as outlines or geographic features) have been added to this image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas convey low population."

Head on over to his site to see interesting close-ups of the Appalachian Mountains, the Great Lakes, and the San Francisco Bay area.

Jetpacks, along with flying cars and dinner pills, have often been thought of as belonging permanently to the future. I know I wasn't the only one asking, when the year 2000 finally rolled in, "Hey, where's my jetpack?"

Well, perhaps the future we all envisioned decades ago is finally here.

On Monday, a daredevil named Eric Scott used a jetpack to fly across Colorado's massive Royal Gorge, which is almost a quarter-mile deep and about 1,500 feet wide. (Incidentally, I walked across the bridge over the Royal Gorge when I was about 7 during a family vacation, and I realize now that I should have reported my parents for child abuse. That thing is scaaaarrrry.)

Anyway, the jetpack can be used for up to 33 seconds and can propel a person over 70 miles per hour. The pack was developed for promotions and stunts by Scott's Denver company, Jet P.I.

Go here for some amazing video of the event.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, the company that conducts a survey on customer satisfaction with rental cars, Enterprise-Rent-a-Car came out ahead. Good for Enterprise. This is the fifth consecutive win for this company. They are the only company to receive a 5 out of 5.

Other top rankers-with 4 out of 5, are Hertz and Alamo. Maybe Alamo listened to customer complaints because that company improved its service since 2007.

What makes great car rental service? Car companies were ranked according to "cost and fees, pickup process, rented car, return process, reservation process, and shuttle van/bus" according to this summary at MotorTrend. Cost and fees were what most people were after.

One in ten people report a problem at the rental desk which is a problem in today's economy when less business people are traveling. Keeping customers satisfied is one way to increase their likelihood of returning.

The companies that ranked 2 out of 5 from bad to worse are:

• Thrifty
• Dollar
• Payless
• Advantage Rent A Car
• Fox Rent A Car

The photo is of Enterprise's hybrid fleet, perhaps another item that makes customers satisfied.

A program the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began in 2006 that attempts to catch terrorists and other criminals by their suspicious behavior has been wrong over 99% of the time, according to the TSA's own numbers.

The program, which trains TSA screeners to detect suspicious or odd behavior in passengers, has resulted in 160,000 stops of passengers, including pat-downs and in-depth questioning. Yet only 1,266 arrests were made out of those 160,000 stops, mostly for drug possession and carrying fake identification.

Unsurprisingly, many are critical of the "behavior detection" program, including Carnegie Mellon professor Stephen Fienberg, who calls the program "a sham," and says, "We have no evidence it works." Other scientists say that while objective observers may be able to detect nervous behavior, there's no way to tell whether it's because they're planning a terrorist attack or traveling to have an extramarital affair.

TSA spokesperson Ellen Howe puts a more positive spin on the numbers, however. She says the program has been "incredibly effective" at catching criminals.

Indeed. Saying the program is "wrong 99% of the time" sounds so negative. Why not say it has a success rate of almost 1%?

Via Boing Boing [HT: The invaluable Agitator]

If you ever saw the movie Airplane, the spoof on airplane disaster movies, you probably still laugh out loud thinking about it. Remember the scene when Julie Hagerty took over for the co-pilot but had to fight off the automatic co-pilot who was a blow-up doll? She was trying to help Striker (Robert Hays) land the plane.

That was a spoof.

In a real life story, a female flight attendant recently came to the assistance of a Boeing 767 commander after the co-pilot had a mental meltdown. On an Air Canada flight from Toronto to London's Heathrow, the co-pilot, who had shown up for the flight acting slightly flustered and on edge -- not his usual outgoing, chipper self -- lost most of his marbles over the Atlantic.

After the co-pilot became increasingly belligerent and erratic, and refused to move from his seat, the flight commander asked the crew to help remove the co-pilot from his seat.

Once the co-pilot was removed -- into the capable hands of doctors who happened to be on board -- the flight attendant took over the co-pilot's job. She had a commercial pilot's license, thus was a huge help to the commander. The flight was diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where she helped land the plane. Upon arrival, the co-pilot spent 11 days in a mental hospital before being transported back to Canada.

Although this real-life drama happened this past January, the investigation has just been completed. The commander and flight attendant were found to be heroes, although that term wasn't used in the official report.

The official report is an interesting read about how decisions are made in the air to keep both passengers and crew safe. It's a PDF file and was sent along by Gadling's own Kent Wien who has the insider track to about everything.

Like me, if you've ever accrued more than 25,000 frequent flyer miles you know how terrible it can be redeeming them for an award ticket. It seems like 95% of the time, the ideal flight that you want is completely sold out and that the next available flight for you is on a Wednesday. In February. On a tiny airplane with 17 layovers.

What many people don't know though is that mileage award availability is a fluid system -- seats open up and close overnight based upon how many people are booked and the amount of time before the flight. So to stay on top of whether or not seats are available for your particular itinerary, you really have to check every day (if not more frequently) to see if anything has changed.

This can be time consuming and difficult, and until now, only by calling or checking the web every day or subscribing to expensive software like expertflyer.com could you check availability.

Enter Yapta.com. The search engine known for refunding the value of your ticket if the price went down recently announced that they would be hosting award availability from several carriers carriers on their site. They've also included a tool that automatically notifies you if seats open up on your ideal flights. Brilliant.

For now the service is only available on Alaska, Continental, Delta, United and US Airways, but if demand turns out to be as strong as I predict, it could expand soon. Log onto Yapta.com and give it a try.

Last week I took Amtrak's high-speed train service, Acela Express, from New Haven to New York. My options were to take Metro-North, a commuter train which takes a little under two hours to get to New Haven, at a cost of $14.

The Acela train saved me about 15 minutes, but guess what, cost $60 more. Totally not worth it. First, the seats were not very big at all. You see, on most commuter trains, unless you're traveling at peak hours, you'll get the whole aisle to yourself. But Amtrak has airplane-style seats, uck right?

The Amtrak trains are also usually packed, since they do not run as often, so I had to deal with that. Plus, even though I was in a silent car, the carriage made a sqeaking sound whenever the train turned (I would advise you to sit in the middle of the car because of this).

I guess I'm not being quite fair, since the New Haven to New York stretch of the rail is the slowest in the Northeast Corridor. But I still advise you to save your money, and just book yourself on regular Amtrak. The seats are essentially the same size and you'll save at least 50%. And so what if you'll get there 15 minutes later, take the time to read a newspaper.

Even though gas prices have dropped considerably (a gallon of gas is $1.77 not far from my house) conserving energy and protecting the environment is still a concern. In Washington, D.C., bicycle commuting has grown considerably as a viable way to get from Point A to Point B.

Anyone living in an urban environment knows that bicycle commuting can create traffic problems even though they solve many problems. This video documentary created for Round 2 of the YouTube and Pulitzer Center "Project:Report" competition looks at the issues about bicycle commuting in D.C, but they could be applied to any city.

When I watched the video, it did give me the feeling that I really ought to bicycle to places more than I do. Since I never bicycle anywhere, an increase wouldn't take much. When I lived in Denmark, riding a bicycle was how I got to the train station in the town where I lived--even in the winter. It was a sane way to live.

(Note: Gadling does not promote or condone any behavior that violates airline policies and procedures. We are, however, amused by this.)

Artist/Blogger Evan Roth really hates when people recline their seats on airplanes. So, with the help of a zip-tie and some good old fashioned ingenuity, he rigged the seat in front of him to remain upright. Rude? Sure. Vandalism? Maybe. Hilarious? Abso-f'n-lutely.

The plan is beautiful in its simplicity and it's not like he endangered his fellow travelers or put the flight in peril. I'd be pissed if he did it to my seat but I can sleep just about anywhere, including upright plane seats, so I probably wouldn't even notice. Besides, there are other ways to sleep on planes.

Kudos to you, Evan. And I hope the rest of you don't get any ideas.

Noel Dempsey, the transport minister of Ireland, has announced that he will meet with US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff next week. The two will sign an agreement that will allow airports in Dublin and Shannon, Ireland to provide US customs screening and immigration checkpoints prior to take-off. This will exponential up the convenience factor and also make Ireland a more viable hub for travelers flying between the US and Europe.

Passengers flying out of Ireland will still have to pass through customs and immigration. But they will be able to do so in Irish airports, where it is bound to be less crowded and hectic. Also, since no further immigration or customs clearance is necessary, planes from Ireland can land in domestic terminals at US airports.

Currently, Dublin and Shannon have US immigration checkpoints for outbound fliers. However, passengers still have to go through customs once they reach the US. The agreement with US Homeland Security will not bring immediate change. Shannon will begin offering full immigration and customs service next summer. Dublin will start the program in 2010.


[Via Airwise]